Autosleigh



Nov. 4 1924.

P. P. LEOW AUTOSLEIGH Filed July 2. 1921 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 P5227 gg n'ATTORNEY Nov. 4 1924- P. F. LEOW AUTOSLEIGH Fileiduly 24 192: 5Sheets-Sheet ATTORNEY Nov. 4 1924- P. P. LEOW AUTOSLEIGH Filed July 192.5 Sheets-Sheet 5 ATTORNEY Nov. 4 1924.

P. P. LEOW AUTQSLEIGH 5 She etS-Sheet 5 Filed July 2, 1921 INVENTOR ATTOR N EY Patented Nov, 4, 1924.

T FFICE.

PETER P. LEOW, or Bovnncrr'r, :arronrean, asses-nos. or one;lORTY-FIFTHEO JAMES s. LEOW, or BOYNE orrv; IiiCI-IIGAN.

AurosLnIei-r.

Application filed July 2,

T0 aZZ whom z'tmag concern:

Be it known that I, PETER P. Lnow, a citizen of the United States,residing at Boyne City, in the county of Charlevoix and State ofMichigan, have invented new and useful Improvements in Autosleighs, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to sleighs of the motor driven type and an objectof the invention is to provide a sleigh which maybe driven by aninternal combustion engine or analogous prime mover, and one'which maybe guided in anydirection desired and in which a planetary set'of gearsis embodied for transmitting power to thedriving wheels.

Another object of this invention is to provide a motor sleigh asspecified in which the driving wheels, which are carried by the rearrunner structure, may be moved vertica'lly for regulating the actionlengths of the spurs or grouters carried by their perimeters or topermit the said driving wheels'to be moved out of operative position andfurther to provide a novel form of mechanism for raising or loweringsaid driving wheels, the said mechanism being operated by single feedscrew to synchronously move,=verti- 'cally, the driving wheels at theopposite sides of the sleigl Another object of this invention is to provide a column associated with the steering column of the motor sleighfor operating said elevation regulating feed screw.

Other objects of the invention will appear in the following detaileddescription and in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the complete motor sleigh.

Flg. 2 1s a longitudinal section through the rearor driving end of themotor sleigh. 1

Fig. 3 isa top plan of the-rear or driving end of the motor sleigh.

4 is a rear elevation of the motor sleiehshowing the parts in section.

Fig. 5 is a top plan of'the front or steering end of the motor sleigh.

Fig. 6 is afragmentarysection illustrating the steering mechanism.

Fig. 7 is asection on the line 7-'-7 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 8 is a diametrical section through one of the driving wheels.

Referring more particularly to therdra'wing the improved sleighcomprises'front and 1921. Serial No. 482,257.

rear sections which provide respectively the steering anddrivingmechanism of the motor sleigh. he frontrunner section comprises frontrunners 1 supported and braced by the usual braces 2 and standards 3,the said runners being connected by a front axle 4: I

to which the "front runners 1 are connected by means of yol-res 5 ateach end of the axle and ears Gcarried by the-standards 3. The yolres 5are pivotally connected to-thevertically spaced sets of ears 6-so astoperm-it pivotal movement ofthe front run-ner Li -or steering thevehicle. Theaxle dis-carried by tlIG'fIZI-IEE 7which-entry:be+yieldablysus pended by'the usualty-p'e of lea-f springs:8

similar to the manner of suspending tlie front end ofthe chassis ofam-otorwehicle. The front, runners 1 are connected, for: synchronoussteering movement, by asuitable cross rod or steering rod-9 to which thearm 10 is connected "by a ball and'socket joint. The arm 10 is carriedbythelowerendbf the steering post l2'u pon the upperendot' which a handwheel13 isinounted torta eilitate manual rotation ofthe-steeringpost12to guide the front runners 1.

The rearor propelling end: of the ;-motor sleigh comprises side trunners-2O =andj21 which are similar in construction, eachicomprising ahousing structure 22 formedof suitable sheet metal and enclosing apropelling mechanismproper.

The propelling mechanism comprises drive wheels 23 and-2carriediby.eachru-nner which have, circumferentially spaced .spurs25 on theirper'imeters for biting into' the surface over which the sleigh istraveling. The driving wheels-23 and=24 are'rotatablysupported ons'uitable stub axles 26 which are. in-tuirnarotatably supported by I theauxiliary housing 27 mounted-wi-thinthe housing 22. The wheels "andreach have a driving gear 28- carried thereby wh ch meshes with an idlergear 29. The id-ler gears 29- mesh with other idler 7 gears 30 extendsacross the rear end of the motor sleigh structure and is connected bymeans of bevel gears 37 with the driving shaft 38 which is in turndriven by the prime mover or engine of the motor sleigh. The gears 29and 30 are mounted to permit a planetary action relative to the gear 31so as to maintain operative driving connection with the gears 28 undervertical adjustment of the driving wheels 23 and 24. The housing 22 isslotted as shown at 39 to permit the movement of the gears 29 and 30 andalso'vertical adjustment of the driving wheels 23 and 24 without varyingthe elevation of the run ners 40. The auxiliary housing 27 is mountedwithin the housing 22 for movement verti' cally therein and its endportions engage the ends of the housing 22 to guide its verticalmovement. An arm 41 is connected to the top or apex of each auxiliaryhousing 27 and the arms on each of the housings are connected in anysuitable manner. Each pressure post or arm 41 is connected, by a link43, with a pivotally mounted lever 44. The lever 44 is pivotallysupported upon a suitable bracket post 45 carried by the housing 22 andits short end is engaged by a roller 46 carried by the frame 47 Rollers48 and 49 are also carried by the frame 4'? and they engage against theguide rail 50. The frame 47 has a nut 52 thereon which is mounted upon afeed screw 53, supported by suitable bearings 54 on the frame 55 and thefeed screws 53 at the opposite sides of the motor sleigh frame areconnected by a cross shaft 56 and suitable'bevel gears 5'7- The crossshaft 56 is connected by bevel gears-58 to an operating rod 59 whichextends forwardly and is rotatably supported at its forward end by asuitable depending bracket 60. A bevel pinion 61 is mounted on theforward end of the rod 59 and meshes with a bevel gear 62 carried by thelower end of the column sleeve 63. The sleeve 63 is rotatably mountedabout the steering post 12 and has a hand wheel 64 thereon forpermitting its" manual rotation thereby allowing adjustment of thepressure applying members comprising the frames 47 and rollers 48 fromthe operators' seat of the motor sleigh. 'As the pressure applyingmembers are moved rearwardly, through.

rotation of the rod 59, the levers 44 are rocked upon their pivotsforcing their rear ends downwardly and applying downward .pressure tothe auxiliary housing 27 moving the driving wheels 23 and 24 downwardlyand when the pressure applying members are moved forwardly the pressureon the levers 44 is reduced and consequently the weight of the motorsleigh will cause the driving wheels 23 and 24to move upwardly as far aspermitted by the pressure levers '44.

Suitable guards 66 areprovided for preventing the throwing of snow bythe drive wheels 23 and 24 during their operation. As clearly shown inFig. 2 of the drawing the rear runner structures 40 are formed of frontsections 67 and rear sections 68 which curve and merge into the housing22 being braced by suitable braces 69 to provide suffi cient rigidity tothe runners and during operation of the motor sleigh the front runners 1and front portions 67 of the rear runners 40 will pack the snowsufficiently to provide a firm surface into which the spurs 28 willburrow for propelling the motor sleigh.

The rear runners are connected by a detachable cross brace 70 and theconnecting bar 42 is connected to said cross brace 70 by means ofsuitable pins 71 riding through the cross brace and being braced in'turnby diagonal braces 72.

Summing up, the operation of the improved motor sleigh is as follows:

The motor sleigh is steered by means of the steering wheel 13 throughthe medium of the cross rod 9 and steering post 12 to permit steering ofthe travel of the sleigh and it is propelled from an internal combustionengine or analogous prime mover through the medium of the rear driveshaft 36 and the sets of gearing carried by each of the rear runnerstructures 40. Varying conditions will require variation of theelevations of the drive wheels 23 and 24 and by rotating the hand wheel64 the elevations of the drive wheels may be regulated as desired andmade necessary by existing conditions. In traveling down inclines thedrive wheels 23 and 24 may be moved out of operative position, that is,with the lowermost points of the spurs 25 above the under surfaces ofthe runners of the sleigh so as to permit the sleigh to coast down suchinclines. When coasting the braking operation of the sleigh may becontrolled by varying the elevation of the drive wheels, the weight ofthe sleigh causing it to stop.

It is, of course, to be understood that the invention may be constructedin various other manners and the parts'associated in different relationsand, therefore, I do not desire to be limited in any manner exceptas setforth in the claims hereunto appended.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

1. In a power driven sleigh, rear runner structures, housings carried byeach of said runner structures and mounted for vertical movement, guiderails carried by the sleigh, feed screws, plates adjustably supported bysaid feed screws, rollers carried by said plates and engaging said guiderails. and means operated by movement of said plate along said feedscrew for raising or lowering said housing.

2. In a power driven sleigh, rear runner structures, housings carried byeach of said runner structures and mounted for vertical housings, and aroller carried by said plate and engaging said lever for forcing thelever and housing downwardly upon movement of the plate along the feedscrew in one direction and for forcing the housing upwardly uponmovement of the plate along the feed screw in the opposite direction.

3. In a power driven sleigh, rear runner structures, housings carried byeach of said runner structures and mounted for vertical movement, guiderails carried by the sleigl'i, feed screws, plates adjustably supportedby said Vfeed screws, rollers carried by said plates and engaging saidguide rails, a pivotally supported lever normally resting on an incline,means connecting said lever and housings, a roller carried by said plateand engaging said lever for forcing the lever and housing downwardlyupon movement of the plate along the feed screw in one direction and forforcing the housing upn-ardly upon movement of the plate along the feedscrew in the opposite direction, a plurality of driving wheels carriedby said .movable housing an operating shaft, and

a train of gears connecting said operating shaft and said drivingwheels.

In testimony whereof I afiiX my signature.

PETER LEOW.

